List of political leaders who held active military ranks in office

This article lists national heads of government and heads of state who held an active military rank while in office.

Note that in many countries, the head of state office has an ex officio military rank; for example, the President of the United States is commander in chief of the armed forces. This list omits ex officio ranks.

Africa

Algeria

• Houari Boumédienne (Colonel) (in office 1965-1978)

Burundi

• Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (???) (in office 1976-1987)
• Pierre Buyoya (Major) (in office as Major 1987-1993, as a civilian 1996-2003)
• Michel Micombero (Captain) (in office 1966-1976)

Chad

• Idriss Déby (Lieutenant General) (in office 1990-present)
• Hissène Habré (???) (in office 1982-1990)
• Félix Malloum (Colonel) (in office 1975-1979)

Egypt

• Hosni Mubarak (Air Chief Marshal) (in office 1981-present)
• Muhammad Naguib (Major General) (in office 1953-1954)
• Gamal Abdel Nasser (Colonel) (in office 1954-1970)
• Anwar Al-Sadat (Field Marshal) (in office 1970-1981)

Ethiopia

• Aman Andom (Lieutenant General) (in office September-November 1974)
• Tafari Benti (Brigadier General) (in office 1974-1977)
• Tesfaye Gebre Kidan (Lieutenant General) (in office May 1991)
• Mengistu Haile Mariam (Major) (in office November 1974, 1977-1991)

'''The Gambia

• Yahya Jammeh (Colonel) (in office 1994-present)

Ghana

• Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (Colonel/General) (in office 1972-1978)
• Akwasi Afrifa (Lieutenant General) (in office 1969-1970)
• Fred Akuffo (Lieutenant General) (in office 1978-1979)
• Joseph Arthur Ankrah (Lieutenant General) (in office 1966-1969)
• Jerry Rawlings (Flight Lieutenant) (in office as Flight Lieutenant June-September 1979, 1981-1993, as a civilian 1993-2001)

Guinea

• Lansana Conté (Captain/General) (in office 1984-present)

Liberia

• Samuel Doe (Master Sergeant) (in office 1980-1990)

Libya

• Muammar al-Gaddafi (Colonel) (in office 1969-present)

Madagascar

• Gilles Andriamahazo (General) (in office February-June 1975)
• Gabriel Ramanantsoa (General) (in office 1972-1975)
• Didier Ratsiraka (Vice Admiral) (in office as Vice Admiral 1975-1993, as a civilian 1997-2002)

Mauritania

• Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla (Colonel) (in office 1980-1984)
• Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly (Colonel) (in office 1979-1980)
• Mustafa Ould Salek (Colonel) (in office 1978-1979)
• Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (Colonel) (in office 1984-2005)
• Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (Colonel) (in office 2005-2007)

Niger

• Seyni Kountché (Colonel) (in office 1974-1987)
• Ali Saibou (Commandant) (in office 1987-1993)

Nigeria

• Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (Major General) (in office January-July 1966)
• Ibrahim Babangida (Major General) (in office 1985-1993)
• Muhammadu Buhari (Major General) (in office 1983-1985)
• Yakubu Gowon (Lieutenant Colonel/General) (in office 1966-1975)
• Murtala Mohammed (General) (in office 1975-1976)
• Olusegun Obasanjo (Colonel) (in office as Colonel 1976-1979, as a civilian 1999-2007)

Uganda

• Idi Amin Dada (Major General/Field Marshal) (in office 1971-1979)
• Tito Okello (General) (in office 1985-1986)

Upper Volta/Burkina Faso

• Blaise Compaoré (Captain) (in office 1987-present)
• Sangoulé Lamizana (Lieutenant Colonel) (in office 1966-1980)
• Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (Major) (in office 1982-1983)
• Thomas Sankara (Captain) (in office 1983-1987)
• Saye Zerbo (Colonel) (in office 1980-1982)

Zaire

• Mobutu Sese Seko (Lieutenant General) (in office 1965-1997)

Americas

North America

• Federico Tinoco Granados (general, Costa Rica)
• Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (general, El Salvador)
• Manuel Noriega (general, Panama)
• Antonio López de Santa Anna (general, Mexico)
• Omar Torrijos (general, Panama)
• Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (general, Dominican Republic)
• Horacio Vásquez (general, Dominican Republic)

South America

• Reynaldo Bignone (general, Argentina)
• Simón Bolívar (general, Bolivia/Gran Colombia/Peru)
• Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbúa (general, Ecuador)
• Carlos Mancheno Cajas (colonel, Ecuador)
• Carlos Delgado Chalbaud (general, Venezuela)
• Manuel Blanco Encalada (admiral, Chile)
• Benigno Andrade Flores (???, Ecuador)
• Leopoldo Galtieri (lieutenant general, Argentina)
• Ramón Castro Jijón (admiral, Ecuador)
• Carlos Alberto Lacoste (vice admiral, Argentina)
• Guillermo Rodríguez Lara (general, Ecuador)
• Jorge Montt (vice admiral, Chile)
• Higinio Morínigo (general, Paraguay)
• Luis Telmo Paz y Miño (???, Ecuador)
• Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (general, Colombia)
• Augusto Pinochet (captain general, Chile)
• Alfredo Poveda (admiral, Ecuador)
• Carlos Mendoza Poveda (general, Ecuador)
• Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean (brigadier general, Argentina)
• José Félix Uriburu (???, Argentina)
• Jorge Rafael Videla (lieutenant general, Argentina)
• Roberto Eduardo Viola (???, Argentina)

Asia

Bangladesh

• Ziaur Rahman (Major General) (in office 1977-1981)

Burma/Myanmar

• Khin Nyunt (General) (in office 2003-2004)
• Ne Win (General) (in office 1962-1981)
• San Yu (General) (in office 1981-1988)
• Saw Maung (General) (in office 1988-1992)
• Soe Win (General) (in office 2004-2007)
• Than Shwe (General/Senior General) (in office 1992-present)
• Thein Sein (General) (in office 2007-present)

Indonesia

• Suharto (Major General) (in office 1967-1998)

Iraq

• Abdul Rahman Arif (???) (in office 1966-1968)
• Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (General) (in office February-November 1963, 1968-1979)
• Abd al-Karim Qasim (General) (in office 1958-1963)

Laos

• Choummaly Sayasone (Lieutenant General) (2006-present)
• Khamtai Siphandon (Lieutenant General) (1991-2006)

North Korea

• Kim Il-sung (Wonsu) (in office 1948-1994)
• Kim Jong-il (Wonsu) (in office 1994-present)

Pakistan

• Ayub Khan (General/Field Marshal) (in office 1958-1969)
• Yahya Khan (General) (in office 1969-1971)
• Pervez Musharraf (General/Field Marshal) (in office 1999-present)
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (General) (in office 1978-1988)

Republic of China

• Chiang Kai-shek (Generalissimo) (in office 1928-1931, 1935-1975)

South Vietnam

• Duong Van Minh (General) (in office 1963-1964)
• Nguyen Cao Ky (Lieutenant General) (in office 1965-1967)
• Nguyen Khanh (General) (in office January-August 1964)
• Tran Thien Khiem (General) (in office 1969-1975)

Thailand

• Khuang Abhaiwongse (Major) (in office 1944-1945, 1947-1948)
• Kriangsak Chomanan (General) (in office 1977-1980)
• Phraya Phahol Pholphayuhasena (General) (in office 1933-1938)
• Plaek Pibulsonggram (Field Marshal) (in office 1938-1944, 1948-1957)
• Prem Tinsulanonda (General) (in office 1980-1988)
• Sarit Dhanarajata (Field Marshal) (in office 1959-1963)
• Sonthi Boonyaratglin (General) (in office 2006)
• Suchinda Kraprayoon (General) (in office 1992)
• Sunthorn Kongsompong (General) (in office 1991-1992)
• Thanom Kittikachorn (General/Field Marshal, Thailand) (in office 1958, 1963-1973)

Turkey

• Kenan Evren (General) (in office 1980-1989)
• Cemal Gürsel (General) (in office 1960-1966)
• Cevdet Sunay (General) (in office 1966-1973)

Europe

Finland

• Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Lieutenant General/Field Marshal) (in office as Lieutenant General 1918-1919, as Field Marshal 1944-1946)

France

• Charles de Gaulle (General) (in office as General 1944-1946, as a civilian 1958-1969)
• Philippe Pétain (Marshal of France) (in office 1940-1944)

Greece

• Phaedon Gizikis (General) (in office 1973-1974)
• Theodoros Pangalos (General) (in office 1925-1926)
• Georgios Papadopoulos (Colonel) (in office 1967-1973)
• Georgios Zoitakis (General) (in office 1967-1972)

Poland

• Wojciech Jaruzelski (General) (in office 1981-1990)
• Józef Piłsudski (Lieutenant General/Marshal of Poland) (in office 1918-1922, 1926-1930)

Portugal

• António Óscar Carmona (Marshal) (in office 1926-1951)
• Gomes da Costa (General) (in office June-July 1926)
• António Ramalho Eanes (General) (in office 1976-1986)
• Francisco da Costa Gomes (Marshal) (in office 1974-1976)
• António de Spínola (General) (in office April-September 1974)

Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalin (Generalissimo of the Soviet Union) (in office as a civilian 1922-1953)

Spain

• Francisco Franco (Generalissimo) (in office 1939-1975)

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• Josip Broz Tito (Marshal of Yugoslavia) (in office 1945-1980)

Oceania

Fiji

• Frank Bainimarama (Commodore) (in office May-July 2000, 2006-present)
• Sitiveni Rabuka (Colonel) (in office as Colonel October-December 1987, as a civilian 1992-2001)